Three More Homers for Rhys Casley, Six on the Tournament to Lead the Way for the Pirates

The host Texaco Pirates from Man-O-War Cay in the Bahamas claimed the first ever Bahamas Invitational Tournament title, with 10-1 and 5-2 wins over the Presidente team from Miami Florida. For the third day in a row, Rhys Casley came up big, hitting three more homers on the day, to give him six on the tournament. For the second day in a row, teammate Barry Kahler went back-to-back with Casley, turning a 1-1 tie in the sixth into a four run outburst, and cruised to a 5-2 win. Doug Sleep was the winning pitcher, going the distance for the win, surrendering only a pair of solo home runs, one in the second and one in the 7th with two outs.

In the first game of the best of three championship series on Saturday, Texaco ran away with things, behind the stellar pitching of Rob Scheller and hitting of Rhys Casley. Casley entered the day with three home runs in the first two days, and has become the player that all of the local fans want to see hit. He did not disappoint them today, with two home runs in the first game, running his total to five on the tournament. (Casley added one more on the day, in the second championship, for six in the tournament.

First Championship Game

Texaco Pirates – 10
Miami Presidente – 1

WP- Rob Scheller
LP – Edney Bethel
HR – Rhys Casley (2) (TP); Alexis Hernandex (MP)

Second Championship Game

Texaco Pirates – 5
Miami Presidente – 2

WP – Doug Sleep
LP – Rob Schweyer

HR- Rhys Casley (TP); Barry Kahler (TP), Serrano Baillou (MP), Michael Baillou, Jr.

Watch for a full recap and photos later in the week.

Here is a link to the photos posted so far, on Flickr. Scroll to the prior slide shows posted here on Morning Brief.

Rhys Casley Homers Twice for Host Pirates, Third in Two Days

Texaco Pirates Bahamas Invitational
Man-O-War Cay, the Bahamas
May 25, 2007 – Day Two

Game 2 – 7:30pm

……………………………………………………R…..H…..E
Miami Presidente Florida……………4……3…..1
Abaco Sluggers, Abaco Island……2……2…..5

WP-Rob Schweyer; save Edney Bethel (5)
LP- Rob Fawcett

K’s:Rob Schweyer (Miami) (10) in 4 inn; Edney Bethel (Miami) (8) in 3 inn, Rob Fawcett, Abaco (18) in 7 innings

Scoring Recap:

[MAN-O-WAR, THE BAHAMAS] – The Presidente team from Miami, Florida scored one run in the first and three in the second, making it stand up for a 4-2 victory over the Abaco Sluggers, a neighboring island team, in the Bahamas. Miami’s Alexis Fernandez, who homered in last night’s game scored two of the four runs, reaching on a single in the first and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Grant Albury, and aboard on a walk in the second inning, and coming around to score on an error, wild pitch, and passed ball. The other two Miami runs came in the third, when centerfielder Roy Mueller reached on an error, and leftfielder Lazzaro Fernandez reached on an infield hit, and came home to score. The Abaco Sluggers plated their two runs in the third inning, on an error, a walk, and RBI single by Fred Sweeting. Once again, the pitching on both sides was dominant, with Abaco’s Rob Fawcett racked up 17 strikeouts in seven innings, while Miami’s Rob Schweyer and Edney Bethel combined for 18 of their own.

Game 3 – 9:30pm

……………………………………………………………..R…..H…..E
Texaco Pirates, the Bahamas……………6……7…..1
Abaco Sluggers, Abaco Island…………..0……3…..2

WP-Doug Sleep; save Rob Scheller (5)
LP- Rob Fawcett

HR-Rhys Casley (2) (TP); Barry Kahler (TP); Tim Albury (TP)
K’s: Doug Sleep (TP) (8) in 4 inn; Rob Scheller (TP) (8) in 3 inn;
Rob Fawcett (Abaco) (13) in 7 innings

(Photo: Rhys Casley, with the swing that powered two more HR’s Friday)

For the second night in a row, the formula for victory for the host Texaco Pirates was home runs from Casley, Kahler, and Albury The only difference on Friday night, is that the Albury homerun was from Tim Albury, instead of Grant Albury. Rhys Casley had a monster night, with two home runs, 4 RBI, three hits and two runs scored. Casley has 6 hits in two games so far, and three home runs. The local fans now know him by name, anticipating each at bat, the way fans used to avoid the hot dog stand when Bonds was coming up.

SCORING RECAP

Casley’s first home run came to lead off the third inning, breaking a scoreless tie. It was a carbon copy of last night’s home run, a high towering drive that was never in doubt, landing in someone’s back yard on the street leading into the ballpark. Barry Kahler made it back-to-back home runs, his second in two nights. In the 5th, Tim Albury added a solo home run to left field to extend the lead to 3-0, for a good, competitive ballgame going into the 7th. But after striking out the first two batters in the 7th, an infield error and a walk meant that Fawcett would have to face Rhys Casley once more. One swing of the bat from Casley and the 3 run lead doubled to 6-0, an insurmountable lead with Rob Scheller on the mound for Haziel McDonald’s hometown Pirates.

Abaco’s Rob Fawcett struck out 13, in his second game of the evening, giving him an even 30 on the night in 14 innings pitched. Doug Sleep and Rob Scheller again split the pitching duties for the Texaco Pirates, each striking out eight, and combining for the three hit shutout.

TOURNAMENT CONCLUDES ON SATURDAY

The third and final day of competition at the first Texaco Pirates Bahamas Itournament will start tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time, and continue with games slated to go at 5 p.m., 7 p.m., and an “if” game at 9 p.m. in the elimination portion of the tournament.

The championship game will be broadcast on Ballparkradio.com. Check the Ballparkradio website at www.ballparkradio.com for a click to listen link and further updates on Saturday. The games on Saturday will conclude the first ever Texaco Pirates Bahamas Invitational tournament held at the spectacular beachfront field on Man-O-War Cay, in the Bahamas.

The crowd on hand for Friday’s games was larger than the opening night, with a still larger crowd expected for Saturday’s games. Many locals from the Man-O-War community have turned out to help host the toeurnament, and also enjoy the competition. Fans accustomed to the usual fare of hot dogs and hamburgers would be delighted by what they find here in the Bahamas, including grilled mahi-mahi and chicken, peas and rice, Bahama spiced macaroni and cheese, homemade coleslaw, and a full table of desserts, including coconut pound cake. Just prior to the start of the first night’s game, it seemed that half of the town was dining at the ballpark, with the now familiar golf carts rolling in for a Friday night at the ballpark. Other fans had come by ferry from neighboring islands, along with the Abaco Sluggers team. The crowd included a number of retired ballplayers, families, kids and teens alike, to root for their local team, in a scene reminscent of an earlier era in men’s fastpitch.

Watch for Maddy’s photo slide show from Friday night’s games.

Best regards,
Jim Flanagan
www.fastpitchwest.com
www.ballparkradio.com
Email: jim (at) fastpitchwest.com